Outlet-box.



H. C. MILLS.

OUTLET BOX.

APYLIGATION FILED APR. 1s, 1913.

1,103,905. Batetea July 14,1914

[[mUIIHIlllHlIIIIHllllllll|il UNITED STATES ,PATENT FFICE.

HARRY C. MILIS, 0F UNIONVILLE, CQNNECTICUT.

currar-Box.

Specification or" Letters Pintent.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I,HARRY C. MILLS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Unionville, county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Outlet-Boxes, of which the following is a specification. n i

This invention relates to the class of boxes adapted to be mounted in the walls of buildings for the purpose of making electrical connections between various kinds of xtures and line wires in the walls of the building.

' The invention is especially adapted for use upon what iscalled old work; that is, Work in old buildings having lath and plaster` partitions and not voriginally .in-

tended for electric wiring. It is of course well understood that in' new work where 'wiring is likely'to be required conduit pipes are placed in the walls of the building through which insulated wires are passed in wiring up for any purpose. In old buildings not provided with conduit pipes, the socalled armored type of line wire is ordinarily f used. This is owing to the fact that its flexibility permits it to be more easily passed through the space between the walls where it would be difficult if not impossible to place conduits.

The obieetgof the present invention is to provide an outlet box especially adapted for old work, which shall be so constructed as to require the cutting away of but a single lath `and shall be provided with meansI for attachment to uncut laths so that it may be rigidly secured in place and will furthermore provide means for covering and concealing the broken edges of the plaster. Heretofore so far as I am aware, outlet boxes have been so constructed as to require entire or partial cutting away of more than one lath, thereby weakening the wall at the pointof attachment, and have required to be attached to the cut laths, being unprovided with means 'novel' wat?,

for attachment to the uncut laths.

In order to overcome the objections to outlet boxes, as ordinarily constructed, for use in old work I have devised the novel outlet box which Iwill now describe, referring to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and using reference characters to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1`is a View partly in elevation and partly in section 'illustrating' Athe con- 55,

struction and modeof attachment of my FfrliglfZQ-afront elevation vat the top and is elongated making it'relatively long and: narrow and of slightly less width than the width of a single :lath plus the width of the spaces for the clenches of plaster on opposite sides of a lath. This is in order that but a single lath need be cut away and the laths on opposite sides of the cut lath need not be interfered with. This box I provide with a face plate, preferably circular, which -is appreciably longer than the box and very much wider than the box and is provided with' screw holes1-2, it being a valuable feature of the invention that this face plate is made wide enough to place the screw holes on oppostesides of the box at approximately the center ofthe uncutlaths on opposite sides of the cut lath. This face plate furthermore eifectually conceals the broken edges of the plaster. As the box is secured to contiguousuncut laths it is made Patented July 14, 1914. \.App1ieation filed April 18,1913. Serial No. 761,909. i

perfectly rigid which is of great imp'ortance,-

as boxes attached to the loose ends of cut laths are apt to become loosened as armored line wires frequently require Qgnsiderable pulling and prying to get them irito place in the box. The face plate is shown as provided with four screw holes and may be attached additionally to the ends of the cut lath. The box is provided with the usual knock-outs 13 and with a lixture stud llllj which may be cast integral with the box 'orr` riveted thereto as shown and may beprovided with an external thread as in Fig. 1, or an internal thread as in Fig. 3. The line wires 15 are passed through the walls and\ enter the box through the knock outs and are then cut off and connected to the fixture wires 16 which run through a lixture stem 17 and to the device to be operated. The fixture stem is provided with a hickey 18 which in turn is threaded onto the fixture Having thus described my invention I claim:

A device 'of the character described, cornprising an outlet box for old lath and plaster work in which one lathv is out away for substantially the length of the box, said box being relatively narrow and adapted to be passed between adjacent laths on each side `vof the out 151th7 and a face plate extending from the outer edge of the lbox about its perimeter and having holes in the longtu dinal and vertical center lines of the box for screws adapted to engage the ends of the out lath and the adjacent laths each side of 10 the out lath.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY o. MILLS.

Witnesses:

A. A. BURNHAM, CHAS. E, HANNY. 

